American Studies Commons^™

Missing Mother: The Female Protagonist's Regression To The Imaginary Order In Shirley Jackson's The Haunting Of Hill House, The Sundial, And We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Julie Ann Baker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examines the psyches of the female protagonists from three of Shirley Jackson’s Gothic novels: Eleanor Vance in The Haunting of Hill House, Aunt Fanny Halloran in The Sundial, and Merricat Blackwood in We Have Always Lived in the Castle. A psychoanalytic and feminist reading is applied to the texts to elucidate the characters’ rejection of the Symbolic Order and regression to the Imaginary Order, and Lacan’s theories of the Desire of the Mother and objet petit a are also applied to the texts to further delineate this regression. Julia Kristeva’s work regarding the lost object of the mother …

The Power To Overcome: The Resistance And Resiliency Of Black Motherhood, Nathan Full

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Motherhood is not a monolithic experience. The intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class are integral facets that influence and control how one practices maternity, especially in a white hegemonic state. Further, control and choice serve as contributing factors, influencing the level of control women have over entering maternity and how a mother claims ties to her offspring. With these intersectional factors and control measures combined, motherhood is a complicated matter, one that influences how women practice maternity. The practice of motherhood is influenced by race, with black women experiencing a historical struggle in their relationships with motherhood. These difficulties …

Explicar El Fracaso: Casa De Mi Padre (Piedmont, 2012), Liam Baldwin

Spanish: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

The Shanachie, Volume 29, Number 4, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society

The Shanachie (CTIAHS)

On Saturday, July 29, several dozen Irish currach rowers, turned the clock back to the 6th century on the waterfront at New London, a major New England seaport since the 17th century --The first Irishman fascinated by the Connecticut shoreline seems to have been Sir William Johnson, one of colonial America’s most influential, productive and flamboyant characters, who came to New London 250 years ago to recuperate --In August 1892, New London was chosen to host a three-week summer educational program that drew an estimated 600 Catholics, most of them Irish --Billiards skills brought fame and fortune to Long Neck …

When Choice Is An Illusion: Suppression Of Women In William Styron's "Holocaust" Novel, William Sewell

Research & Publications

This article examines how Styron shapes Sophie's Choice through Southern Gothic literary techniques. In particular, we will explore the development of Sophie, who throughout the story served as the Gothic archetype of the "damsel in distress." She is a heroine who lacks agency,a character with "a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued– frequently." Ultimately, the harsh suppression of female identity entrenched in Gothic literature contributes to the "unimaginable pain" that forces female characters like Sophie to make their "choice." Finally, we will examine how Sophie, controlled throughout her life, really does not have a real "choice" when …

Advancing Sylvia Wynter's Reimagination Of The Human And Counter-Poetics: A Critique Of Contemporary Western Science Discourse In Cosmos—A Spacetime Odyssey, With Host Neil Degrasse Tyson, Claire E. Slattery-Quintanilla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the entanglements of "modernity/coloniality," Western conceptualizations of time and space, and questions of the "human" as they are situated in contemporary Western science discourse and thought. Through a textual analysis of the 2014 science television documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey presented by famous black astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, I argue Tyson refuses to discuss race as it relates to Western science on three levels in Cosmos: the racialized logic inherent in Western science, the sociohistorical relationship between European colonial racial subjugation and the emergence of contemporary Western science, and Tyson's experience as a black man …

The "Noble Savage" In American Music And Literature, 1790-1855, Jacob Mathew Somers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In the aftermath of the War of 1812, America entered a period of unprecedented territorial expansion, economic growth, and political unity. During this time American intellectuals, writers, and musicians began to contemplate the possibility of a national high culture to match the country’s glorious social and political achievements. Newly founded periodicals urged American authors and artists to adopt national themes and materials to replace those imported from abroad, and for the first time Americans began producing their own literary, artistic, and musical works on a previously inconceivable scale. Though American writers and composers explored a wide range of “national themes,” …

The Shanachie, Volume 29, Number 1, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society

The Shanachie (CTIAHS)

A Sampler of 333 years of Irish Footprints in Milford:

Organized just 10 years ago, the Irish Heritage Society of Milford has a large and growing membership, a home, an annual festival and a busy schedule of events. Its latest goal is to publish a book about Irish people who have played roles in the shore town’s long history. Hopefully, this all-Milford issue of The Shanachie will make a wee contribution to that project. To learn more about Milford’s own exciting “Celtic Tiger,” go to www.milfordirish.org.

The Shanachie, Volume 29, Number 2, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society

The Shanachie (CTIAHS)

A little bit of Ireland on the Connecticut River: Collinsville in the town of Canton --'Walk New Haven' books highlight historic sites in city's neighborhoods --Barnwell family settles in Stratford via Dublin and western N.Y. (by Paul R. Keroack).

A Raucous Entertainment: Melodrama, Race, And The Search For Moral Legibility In Nineteenth-Century America, Sarah M. Olivier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gathering together episodes from American theater history, my dissertation focuses on the destabilizing identities and paradoxical resolutions of so-called "Indian" and slavery plays to address nineteenth-century melodrama's fundamental engagement with race. Melodrama is a spectacular form that uses iconic images to move audiences to feel powerful emotions and to assign moral legibility to societal problems. Given the significant role of territorial expansion and chattel slavery in US history, race has always presented Americans with crucial moral dilemmas. Melodrama has long provided a dominant mode of representation for addressing such dilemmas that hinges upon racially inflected conceptions of good and evil. …

The Shanachie, Volume 29. Number 3, Connecticut Irish-American Historical Society

The Shanachie (CTIAHS)

New Haven's Grove Street Cemetery has Irish roots ... and Mory's Temple Bar probably does too.

Partnerships 5: Living History Partnerships At Fort St. Joseph, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

The living history community is a bridge between scholars and the public. Re-enactors and craftsmen bring history to life for the public through events sponsored by the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project , demonstrating 18th-century lifeways and animating archaeological discoveries.

Partnerships 6: Partnering With The Pokagan Band Of Potawatomi, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Western Michigan University anthropology students and citizens of the Pokagon Band have begun to identify areas of shared interest that can be pursued in building a relationship to create more inclusive histories in the St. Joseph River valley

Partnerships 4: Anthropology And Education In The Niles Community, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Western Michigan University (WMU) anthropology students have begun working with the Niles school system to identify potential opportunities for collaboration with the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project.

Weird Propaganda: Texts Of The Black Power And Women’S Liberation Movements, Marie Buck

Wayne State University Dissertations

“Weird Propaganda: Texts of the Black Power and Women’s Liberation Movements” examines texts of the Black Power and Women’s Liberation Movements: the early Black Arts Movement anthology For Malcolm; the now-canonical texts Our Bodies, Ourselves; The Black Woman; and Sisterhood Is Powerful; a number of pamphlets and other small press works; and the Black Panthers’ newspaper. This project argues that writers and activists used senses of the uncanny, along with elements of science fiction and fantasy, to negotiate the day-to-day uncertainties of political organizing and, more broadly, political hope. The texts examined here convey particular political views in an explict …

Rodcon, Flier, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

RodCon Documents

RodCon 2017 at the Rod Library

Saturday, April 1

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Flier used in promotion of the event.

Rodcon, Program, 2017, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

RodCon Documents

Inside This Program:

--RodCon 2017 at the Rod Library, Saturday April 1, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
--Welcome to RodCon
--Locations
--Schedule
--What's That? Event Descriptions
--Sponsors

Dean Conant Worcester (1866–1924): Colonizing And Collecting The Philippines, Mark Rice

American Studies Faculty/Staff Publications

In lieu of an abstract, here is the chapter's first paragraph:

Although his fame has faded over the years, there was a time when Dean Conant Worcester (1866-1924) was a very influential—and equally controversial—individual (fig. 57). A physically imposing man with an abundance of energy and self-confidence, Worcester’s career path went from scientist to colonial administrator to successful businessman. He was one of the many players who helped usher the United States into its position of global dominance in the twentieth century. His representations of the Philippines in writing and images were instrumental in the debates within the United States …

Confronting The Present: Migration In Sidney Mintz’S Journal For The People Of Puerto Rico, Ismael Garcia-Colon

Publications and Research

Sidney Mintz’s field journal for The People of Puerto Rico, published in 1956, is a valuable source for historical anthropological work. Until now, however, it has remained a hidden treasure for the anthropology of migration. By the late 1940s and 1950s, migration was central to the lives of Puerto Rican sugarcane workers and their families, and Mintz recorded important details of it. His journal shows how people maneuvered within fields of power that were full of opportunities and constraints for people seeking to make a living by migrating. Thanks to Mintz, anthropologists can learn about working-class Puerto Ricans’ experiences, lives, …

Bombs, Bikinis, And Godzilla: America's Fear And Fascination Of The Atomic Bomb As Evidenced Through Popular Media, 1946-1962., Joshua Samuel Scott Cornett

Online Theses and Dissertations

This project aims to illustrate the change in emotions white, middle class Americans experienced towards the atomic bomb during the nineteen forties to early nineteen sixties by examining the popular culture that they produced and consumed. These Americans described the bomb as being an object of beauty, a powerful savior, an object of prosperity, and a weapon of fear. Each of these depictions are examined in their own separate chapter with various popular culture items examined as evidence. A wide range of popular media were inspected for this study, including films, magazines, comic books, cartoons, novels, and even video games.

Volume 8 Cover, Joanne Lamb

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

No abstract provided.

Walking And Wandering: Reconstructing Diasporic Subjectivity In T. C. Huo's Land Of Smiles And Lê Thi Diem Thúy’S The Gangster We Are All Looking For, Brian G. Chen

Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies

Diaspora has often been defined as the condition of dispersal and displacement in which its members express minimal connections with their host country and always look to return to their ancestral homelands. However, from the literary representations in T. C. Huo’s Land of Smiles and Lê Thi Diem Thúy’s The Gangster We Are All Looking For, it is clear that members of the Southeast Asian diaspora determine to set root in their host country and refuse to be treated as temporary guests. This determination is warranted by their desire to redefine the contentious idea of home beyond cultural ancestry …

Uncoverings: The Research Papers Of The American Quilt Study Group, Volume 38 (2017), Lynne Zacek Bassett, Dana Fobes Bowne, Deborah Cooney, Dale Drake, Anita B. Loscalzo, Rachel May, Ronda Harrell Mcallen, Kathy Moore, Linda Welters

Uncoverings Journal

Foreword by Lynne Zacek Bassett

"Old Quilt Brought to America" by Dana Fobes Bowne

The Cushman Quilt Tops: A Tale of North and South by Rachel May and Linda Welters

Louisiana Acadian Cotonnade Quilts: Preserving the Weaving Heritage of a People by Dale Drake

Baltimore Album Quilts: New Research by Deborah Cooney and Ronda Harrell McAllen

Whence Garlands, Swags, Bowknots, and Baskets? Four Neoclassical Design Motifs Found in American Quilts by Anita Loscalzo

The Mystery of the Harlequin Star Quilts: Finding and Naming a Previously Unidentified Regional Design by Kathleen L. Moore

Contributors

Index

The End Of Postmodernism, Ralph Clare

English Literature Faculty Publications and Presentations

Appearing at the start of the millennium, Percival Everett's Erasure (2001) features Monk Ellison, a writer who is questioning his one-time embrace of postmodern aesthetics and who raises the ire of "innovative" writer and fellow member of the Nouveau Roman Society after delivering a conference paper, F/V, part parody of and part homage to Roland Barthes's S/Z. Becoming belligerent, the writer proclaims to Ellison that postmodernists did not "have time to finish what we set out to accomplish" because any art which "opposes or rejects established systems of creation ... has to remain unfinished." His unsuccessful attempt to …

Adventures With Animals Big And Small, Emily Allen, Marcus Blandford, Shannon Brennan, Brennen Keen, Amanda Timm, Tara Penry, Sarah Obendorf

English Literature Student Projects and Publications

The purpose of this project is to produce a short collection of out-of-print children’s stories that would be suitable for first grade level readers. Stories selected for the collection fit the theme of being seasonally themed and include animals as main protagonists. Under the guidance of Dr. Tara Penry, the class searched children’s magazines from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s to find stories that would be relevant and interesting to today’s elementary schoolers.

Travels On The St. Johns River., Thomas Hallock, John Bartram, William Bartram, Richard Franz

Faculty Books

In 1765 father and son naturalists John and William Bartram explored the St. Johns River Valley in Florida, a newly designated British territory and subtropical wonderland. They collected specimens and recorded extensive observations of the plants, animals, geography, ecology, and native cultures of an essentially uncharted region. The chronicle of their adventures provided the world with an intimate look at La Florida. Travels on the St. Johns River includes writings from the Bartrams' journey in a flat-bottomed boat from St. Augustine to the river's swampy headwaters near Lake Loughman, just west of today's Cape Canaveral. Vivid entries from John's Diary …

“There Was That In Her Face And Form Which Made Him Loathe The Sight Of Her”: Disfiguration And Deformity Of Female Characters In 19th Century American Women’S Literature, Kelsi E. Cunningham Miss

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Rebecca Harding Davis, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Mary Wilkins Freeman challenge the way that society treats and views the disabled and deformed. Through different representations of the disabled characters, the three short stories by these authors reveal the realities that women faced in the 19^th century in response to rigid beauty standards and expectations. The authors in this study address the marginalized position of the disabled characters and show how society’s attempts to “normalize” the women confine them to a fixed identity. Analyzing the texts in relation to disability studies and the authors’ perceived effectiveness of social charity will …

The Parton Paradox: A History Of Race And Gender In The Career Of Dolly Parton, Lindsey L. Hammers

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

With a career that has spanned over five decades, country music artist Dolly Parton has continually redefined her image and her music to remain relevant. By incorporating the musical and lyrical stylings of disco and other popular music genres into her songs, Parton moved beyond music’s color line to increase her popularity as an artist. This thesis shows how Parton established a distinct career that catered to different audiences as she traversed the musical color line and repackaged what feminism looked like to country music fans during the Women’s Movement of the 1960s. Placing Parton’s actions in conversation with music’s …

Relocations Of The 'Outraged Slave': Transatlantic Reform Conversations Through Douglass's Periodical Fiction, Nikki D. Fernandes

Theses and Dissertations

Through their editorial arrangements of African-American, Euro-American and European poetry, fiction and news, Frederick Douglass’s anti-slavery periodicals (The North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper) imagine a cosmopolitan discourse that predates the segregated realities of the antebellum United States. In spite of Southern blockades against the infiltration of Northern texts, Douglass’s material space uniquely capitalized on the limited restrictions of his reprinting culture to relocate the voice of the ‘outraged slave’ onto a global stage. From the poems of Phillis Wheatley and William Cowper to Charles Dickens’s Bleak House and Douglass’s own novella “The Heroic Slave,” this project considers how …

Female Art And Artisans In Edith Wharton’S The House Of Mirth, The Custom Of The Country, And “Roman Fever”, Julia B. Welch

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In early twentieth century old and new New York social circles, the marriage market’s commodification of women acted as the controlling factor for relationships, female power, and personal identity. When considering Wharton’s works for the first-hand viewpoint that she provided of the marriage market, it becomes clear that her interest in art plays heavily into the way women comport themselves within her novels. In order to discuss this relationship in Edith Wharton’s works, I’ve created terms that delineate the various ways female characters respond to the pressures of the marriage market. The best way to analyze Wharton’s women is by …